{"id":153,"date":"2008-12-15T20:01:17","date_gmt":"2008-12-16T04:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chocolatehammer.org\/?p=153"},"modified":"2019-12-06T18:45:42","modified_gmt":"2019-12-07T02:45:42","slug":"world-creation-part-4-i-for-one-welcome-our-new-robot-underlings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chocolatehammer.org\/?p=153","title":{"rendered":"World Creation Part 4: I, For One, Welcome our New Robot Underlings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the fourth installment of the World Creation Series. If you are only now tuning in to the series, and want to be in a position to claim it has jumped the shark, here are the first<\/a>, second<\/a>, and third <\/a>entries.<\/p>\n

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Now that the practical aspects of the setting have been established (the major government bodies, the technology level, etc) it is time to settle down and take a closer look at how some major details will be implemented.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

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First, we have robotics. I want to have some sort of mechanized humanoid semisentient thing<\/em> in this setting, if only because it seems like it would fit into the setting so far. The government I\u2019ve established is one where technology is used to better the situation of humanity, where a broken world is kept precariously together by the mastery and use of creative engineering. Robotics seems to be the ultimate extension thereof: creating sophisticated, almost intelligent beings to serve mankind.<\/p>\n

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It follows, then, that robots would be more or less totally subservient. From the most crude worker drone to the most sophisticated secretary\/accountant bot, every artifice has a master to serve and a task to do. Plausibly, even the most complex will probably have only the barest semblances of a personality, and the resemblance to a human will probably fall apart under close scrutiny (they won\u2019t panic when shot at, get tired after working for a day without rest, or get lonely when left alone for weeks). Some high engineers (\u201chigh artists\u201d) create sophisticated, nuanced personalities as a display of skill and panache, but even these are distinctly inhuman and probably the less practical for their simulated emotions.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Robots are used primarily for labor that requires more finesse than a factory machine, but is somehow undesirable to humans. For example, robots are used as sewer workers, combination secretary\/accountant for bureaucrats, executioners, etc. However, this tendency towards an automated labor force is hardly universal. In the inner cities, where there are the universities, government buildings, and high concentrations of high artists, there are plenty of robot workers. In the mid-cities, used to transport resources and just to provide concentrations of people, there are probably the occasional robot, mostly either legacy bots that have been in government possession for a while or personal employees of wealthy individuals. In the outer cities, robots are scarce, with perhaps one or two to serve as curiosities, rusting old machines that wander apologetically through the streets, having long forgotten what they were built for.<\/p>\n

\n

We come next to the issue of religion. Obviously, this is a pretty significant part of any civilization. Religion is a unifier, a motivator, and an influence on all parts of the typical culture. As such, the religion for this realm needs to be something that preserves the general flavor.<\/p>\n

\n

Like most real-world religions, the belief system of this world states that the body is basically a fancy, organic machine that houses the soul. According to this belief system, humans have evolved to the point where we are smart enough to create machines of our own, but even these artifices pale in comparison to the genius engineering of the human body. Our cell structure and our organs are wondrous, complex devices that cannot be fashioned of iron or cogs, no matter how minutely worked.<\/p>\n

\n

However, these bodies have a problem that all machines face. Namely, they degrade and die, and the souls they carry are lost to some ethereal waiting room. The purpose of mankind is to find a way to preserve the soul\u2019s presence in the land of the living eternally, a goal which nonbelievers doubt will ever be reached.<\/p>\n

\n

The government is largely founded on this belief, and almost all the ruling council are devout. It does not, however, enforce these beliefs in any way\u2014there doesn\u2019t seem to be a point, since most of the common folk wouldn\u2019t really do anything with these beliefs anyway.<\/p>\n

\n

There are two levels within the church. There are the Artificers, high artists and scholars who work to study the human body and the workings of machines, compiling knowledge in an endless quest to create a perfect, nondegrading human body. These represent a fraction of a percent of the population, and work mainly outside the public eye. Below the Artificers are the common \u201cpriests\u201d, known as Warders. Warders serve many small functions: they heal the sick, set wounds, and generally preserve individual human existence. Essentially, the religion deals with the unreachable and the pragmatic, the betterment of the soul and the care of the body.<\/p>\n

\n

Morality is communicated through the Warders, who sometimes act as community leaders. Warders teach that the soul and body are both precious, and are not to be abused in any way. The abuse of substances and the neglect of personal health are considered sinful, along with crimes such as assault and murder. Theft is treated as a light offense, punishable but peripheral to the major concerns of the faithful.<\/p>\n

\n

Tune in next week for a debate that might severely impact the functioning of the world: Magic, or No Magic?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the fourth installment of the World Creation Series. 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